Bill Robinson
An Eastern Kentucky University student who was escorted from the Richmond Mall on Aug. 9, allegedly because her dress was too short, has filed suit against an unknown person who posted a comment on a forum associated with the Richmond Register’s online edition.
The post appeared Aug. 13 and claimed that Kymberly Clem, a 20-year-old Eastern Kentucky University student, had intentionally exposed herself to a woman and two children.
Filed Monday in Madison Circuit Court, the suit names “an unknown person posting on the Richmond Register Web site as ‘12bme’” and seeks unspecified punitive damages.
The comment was posted on a forum operated by Infopop Corp. and owned by Groupee Inc., said Register Editor Jim Todd.
At the newspaper’s request, the comment and references to it were removed and “12bme” has been banned from the forum, the editor said.
The action was taken because the comment violated the Web site’s terms of service, to which all participants must agree, Todd said.
In a news release, Clem’s attorney Wesley Browne called the comment “false” and “malicious.”
Browne has subpoenaed Register Assistant Editor Lorie Love to give a deposition in connection with the suit. She is responsible for posting news stories to richmondregister.com.
Earlier, the attorney said he had contacted Groupee Inc. seeking the poster’s identity.
Whether Browne had subpoenaed Groupee personnel or records was unknown at press time.
“People think they can make these posts anonymously, but there is always a means of finding out,” Browne said in a news release. “People are entitled to their opinions. We understand and respect that, but creating lies to hurt someone who is already so vulnerable is not only disgusting, it is a violation of law.”
Bill Robinson can be reached at brobinson@richmondregister.com or at 623-1669, Ext. 267.
